Sitting here in Japan with all those gadgets and goodies around... I was still silently crying at night, since my Zaurus (Akita) never was working as I aspect it.

Bought it shortly before Sharp officially announced the death of Zaurus and played around with all those different distribution I was never really happy with it. Coming from Psion I was really annoyed to ride again a dead horse and I was loosing interest in clamshell keyboard PDAs recently.

We all accept Zaurus is discontinued but it seems Sharp start to think differentThe Netbook market brings a lot of movement and a little geekish market starts to become more and more mainstream. This means more and more potential customers... music in the ears of every sales manager.

TODAYS BIG SURPRISE !!!! THERE IS A NEW ZAURUS !!!!!!

O.k. the do not call it Zaurus anymore but it is clearly inspired by its predecessor.Yes, someone might say its not a Zaurus but more a crossbread between a Netbook and a Zaurus, but it has some potential which let it stick out of the generic netbook market.

The specs read nice. Many features are available which were missing or limited for Zaurus. No official price yet, but rumors in Japan and some logical thinking says we could expect a price around that of a standard netbook.

Unfortunately the do not state what means USB 2.0 compatible for them. Bluetooth seems to be missing as well and the CF slot is gone... which is bad if you still have Wifi, GPS or other CF-cards laying around.

I'm not too worried about microSDHC slot, it is the way of the future, even though SDHC is cheaper and widely available in huge capacities.

it's good as it shows potential but is too lacking, but where's the* CF expansion slot - it was the making of the Z - OR, at least more USB - OR a miniPCI slot?* why no 802.11N - maybe wifi is a miniPCIe?* sufficient RAM - 512MB is not so bad but not really enough. hopefully it's an SODIMM?* bluetooth (someone already pointed its lack)* 3G as an option - or wimax - or something - see above for miniPCIe?* 1-Seg or other digital TV tuner that might be reprogrammable for other purposes* FM radio?

I'm not too worried about microSDHC slot, it is the way of the future, even though SDHC is cheaper and widely available in huge capacities.

it's good as it shows potential but is too lacking, but where's the* CF expansion slot - it was the making of the Z - OR, at least more USB - OR a miniPCI slot?

lets face it, I think CF is going to die ... painfull for me since I own some CF gadgets but thats the way

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* why no 802.11N - maybe wifi is a miniPCIe?

I agree if you like to use the extend range of N draft. Speed is not a problem for daily use. Copy a few MB over G or N based wireless makes not much a difference. However I would much more likely see a NIC

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* sufficient RAM - 512MB is not so bad but not really enough. hopefully it's an SODIMM?

Uhhh taking the form factor into account, the rather fact that they had to design some arm based think from scratch (nothing out of the shelf with many optional plugs to customize it to your needs) and the cost cutting consumer market I would not bet on that

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* bluetooth (someone already pointed its lack)

Yes that just stupid bluetooth circuits got so small today. I bet there would be plenty space at the display side to fiddle one of those circuits inside

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* 3G as an option - or wimax - or something - see above for miniPCIe?* 1-Seg or other digital TV tuner that might be reprogrammable for other purposes* FM radio?

I guess for that you have to see the Japanese market more clearly. Its amazing, where Europe still try to come up with expensive 3G service for executive business people, Japanese teenager are used to serve the net on there mobile phones where ever there are since long time already.3-4 mobile phone companies are hardly fighting for each customer. However, unlike in Europe every company pops up with a own set of mobile phones. You are not going to by Nokia or Samsung or HTC but Docomo, Softbank or Emobile. Phones are OEM products produced for the individual companies. Some global players like HTC produce the same devices for Europe and rebrand them for the Japanese market but many other are really just produced for a single carrier in Japan. Thus, as mobile Internet hit the market all companies merged it within there portfolio including there mobile phones... If you like to have 3G you likely will extend your mobile phone contract. Most of them offer different 3G USB sticks or other hardware for really heavy discounts.I think sharp just decided not jump into that crazy war and does not include 3G since they expect that most Japanese customer have some form of 3G already and they like to save the cost on there own productTV & Radio is the same ... most new generation Japanese mobile phones play TV already. Maybe Sharp is targeting another audience. Beside, Japanese TV and Radio System differs completely from the rest of the world. You would not have fun with an import device in Europe.They state... ebook and dictionary would be key the features.However, I still can see some usage as a dictionary but I heavily deny the idea of usage the device as an ebook reader

I suspect this device is a no-go for both the US and the European markets.- large, not pocketable whatsoever- no wireless capability (2.5/3G) and no easy way to add one- keyboard too small for touch typing, too large for thumb typing- screen undersized, again- no pivot for ebook reading/multimedia

This old "I am a dictionary, but I might possibly fit other purposes, too" concept would have stand a chance only if there were no advanced open Android and Maemo platforms/devices in the meantime.